A Reflection on The Final Problem: 'Everybody Dies'

'Everybody Dies' breaks the prescription mould of the procedural episode at PPTH. The episode begins with House in the dark, lying on a cold, dirty floor. From the dusty, dark quality of the opening scene there is a sense that the episode will take place, for the most part, in the shadows. House wakes up to find Kutner standing over him, a suicidal reference to his state of mind. In a TVLine Interview Shore describes how the hallucinations interact with reality, most amusingly when Kutner sticks a piece of gum on the sole of the dead patient's shoe. The patient, a heroin addict, works as a parallel for House himself. He pushes everyone in his life away and is openly an addict. However, he offers to take the fall for House's flooding prank when House tells him he's dying. He was prepared to sacrifice himself, as House does for Wilson. In true Housian fashion, the medicine appears to be more important than the patient, and House is compelled to tell him that he will live, only to continue uncovering the mystery, or so he says. So onto plan B.

As a reflection of the Holmsian detective style, there is no straightforward search for the truth. The episode is fragmented and does not happen in chronological order. In great part, the episode takes place in House's mind. Wilson dying of cancer forces House to reassess his own life, and when forced to go back to jail, he must either accept his fate or fight against it. As we all know 'dying changes everything', so in a true homage to Conan Doyle's 'Reichenbach Falls' and in a similar way to Moffat's modern day Sherlock, House decides to create a scenario in which his 'death' allows for a new life and time spent with Wilson. House sacrifices his chances of ever practicing medicine again, of living his past life, for Wilson. In the end, what makes life worth living for many of us, are the human connections we have (we need the eggs). 

I watched the episode in a more or less paralysed mental state. I was terrified of what the end would mean, not only for House, but for myself and so many others. Now comes the time when I admit that I initially interpreted the episode in a completely different way from the way it was intended. For me, House was hallucinating and seeing all those who had meant something to him in his past, and who represented a part of his subconscious, after tripping for the last time on heroin (a tribute to Holmes, no doubt). I believed that ironically, the moment he decided to live, to go on, despite knowing he would lose his friend, was the moment it was too late. I thought the plan to run away, continuing with the Thelma and Louise analogy from 'The C Word', was a plan that could never happen, created by House in hope. I wasn't under the impression House died when the building collapsed, (especially as a friend suggested a Holmsian ending), I believed it at the end, almost like a triple bluff or inception. I believed that what were supposed to be misleading clues, ie Dr. Nolan at Mayfield, were in the end real ones. What also led me to believe this was the song used at the end, what I like to call 'Amber's Song', 'Enjoy Yourself' (It's later than you think): the song she sang repeatedly to House while he was hallucinating in season 5. It has a melancholic tone which really tugs at the heart strings. The 'Dead Poets Society' reference, although more aptly applicable to Wilson, also made me question House's end.  But House survived the fire, and the torments of his mind and what's to come. This way the end is more open, fans can write endings for themselves, for the fates of House and Wilson. After all, Kutner does say: 'Death's not interesting. You exist for what's interesting.'

What I really enjoyed was the embedding of stories and the metaphors throughout the episode. House crashing through the weak floorboards becomes a metaphor for two stories: when House crashes through one floor to the other it suggests that it was a facade, a fake floor. The real floor lies beneath, representing the escape plan. The constant images of fire appear to signify an all encompassing destruction or end, the hell House is currently living in. The truth, that House is alive, becomes buried under piles of wood and burnt debris. When the building collapses two crosses can be seen in the framework of the wood, side by side, seemingly to mark House and Wilson. In addition, the repetition of House: 'He's happy', Amber: 'He's dead' points to House's plan to 'kill himself'. Only after the fake death can he be free and potentially happy with Wilson. House's understanding that their fates lie in his hands appears to come just after the moment in which Wilson tells him there is only one person he can count on. The axiom 'Everybody Lies' is present throughout, indicating the fake story.

I have to say, I did miss seeing Cuddy, she was such an important person to House. So it was fitting that she was at least referenced as one someone who really impacted House's life. Stacy's scenario was surreal. Seeing House hold his would-be child demonstrated just how much that life was not for him. House's mind can't help but think of a parallel life he could have lived, a life in which Wilson would not be dying. In 'The C Word' Wilson breaks down in a sort of existential crisis about how the universe is unfair and the pointlessness of life. In 'Holding On' House goes as far as to present fake patients Wilson saved, at the cafeteria, to show Wilson just how much his life has meant. House constantly asks Wilson (and others) to sacrifice for him throughout the series, Vicodin prescriptions, lying, alibis, covers... But in the final episode House makes the ultimate sacrifice for Wilson. As Foreman says in 'Holding On': 'Enduring pain to do some good for someone you care about...isn't that what life is?'

I loved seeing Amber again, she was one of my favourite characters, especially as I am absolutely fascinated by House's mind and how it works. In 'Blowing the Whistle' I was convinced House's MRI prank was a way to check whether he was ok, as he showed real fear that his mental capacity and ability to practice medicine was declining. In clever Housian style, while House was worried for himself, and our focus was on him, Wilson was silently suffering with cancer, and the news came like a knife to the heart. So in 'Everybody Dies' we see a focus again on House's mind, on his ability to fabricate a fake death and get out of the back door of a burning building, magician style.

It was interesting to see Cameron again, playing with reverse psychology, telling House to give up like Wilson did. As it would be the last thing Cameron would say it was a suggestion that House couldn't possibly die, things would be the opposite of how they seemed. The funeral scene was touching, especially as the last thing House says before his fake death is that he can change, something he has fought against throughout the entire series. There is a bitterness that House is so selfish to end his own life, which is disproven when he survives. It was also odd, again surreal. It somehow showed that this scenario was a mask for what was really happening. The text Wilson receives from House was truly Housian: 'shut up you idiot'. Basically code for 'I love you'.

I really liked the scene where Foreman finds House's name tag and understands what he had seen: the crashing down of burning planks crushing House, when Wilson and himself stood before the building was an illusion created by perspective. Regardless of all their arguments, they were friends, and it's great to see him happy for House.

Seeing Wilson ride off into the distance with House was a bittersweet moment. House has always been weary of happiness, how short lived it can be, but this is a reminder of how much Wilson has represented happiness for House throughout their friendship. We also see that life goes on, Taub works things out with his daughters' mothers, Chase becomes the head of diagnostics, the wheel keeps turning. What a fantastic and complex ending to the show.

The Warren Zevon song is so incredibly fitting: 'Keep Me In Your Heart (For A While)', and there is no doubt that we will. Thank you to David Shore for creating such a profound and complex character, an antihero unlike any other. Thank you to all the writers, actors, directors and crew who have worked so hard on this global phenomenon of a show. Thank you to the fans, and now friends, who have made this experience even more special for me. Thank you to Hugh Laurie for being absolutely brilliant and for making me laugh, cry and most importantly, think.

Goodbye House MD.

Blowing The Whistle Episode Review

Blowing The Whistle centres around the theme of honour. As House suggests, honour is subjective. We do what we believe is honourable for reasons which matter to us. The question that permeates the episode is: Why do we do what we do? This not only applies to the young soldier who leaks a video showing the shooting of thirty four civilians by American forces but also to House. The POTW justifies his act of treason because he believed it is what his father would have done, as during the war, his father disobeyed orders and saved fellow soldiers. This appears to be somewhat of a parallel to the episode Parents, in which the POTW wants to follow in his biological father's footsteps to become a clown, and then we later discover that his father sexually abused him and caused his illness. The theme of parental care is something that has always featured in House episodes because House believes parents screw their children up; including himself. House shows a certain disdain for men in uniform, joking that they get served first in the cafeteria, but this is perhaps more a reference to his dislike of his own father. In Blowing The Whistle the POTW's brother later reveals that the army did not covertly assassinate their father, but that he was a drunk and was killed in a car accident in which he killed a civilian, ironic. Just as in Parents, where the mother is keeping the abuse from her son to protect him, the brother is doing the same thing. House asks the young soldier how many civilians must die to make his act honourable. Is it a utilitarian matter? The question of what is more honourable - serving your country and fulfilling your duties or making public the deaths of civilians in order to attempt to stop further similar attacks from happening (blowing the whistle) - is subjective.

House on the other hand appears to be suffering from hepatic encephalopathy. Adams notices that his reaction time is slow and that he hasn't publicly humiliated her for sleeping with someone and then turning up to work in the same clothes. The team even follows him to the bathroom, after which Taub collects his, I should say feces, but I'll say poo. The Taubinator beats House aka Occam's Chainsaw at his video games, something House never loses. Meanwhile House is trying to uncover the rat among the team; who told Foreman he's sick. Except he's not sick. This does remind me of when House pretended he had cancer in Half Wit in order to get an implant in his brain that releases medication which would soothe his pain. That had an obvious, deceitful purpose whereas this appears to be darker because it's so ellusive. House caused all his own symptoms. Except we never really know why, at least not from his perspective. In the end House accuses Chase of being the rat to which Chase retorts that House wanted him to tell Foreman, someone to notice straight away that he's losing his edge (his brain function, which matters most to him), because eventually it will happen. Chase was against telling Foreman, so it's unlikely it was him. We never know who told. House neither confirms nor denies Chase's theory, but Chase is somewhat of a House protege, so his assumption does make sense at least on some level, even if on an unconscious one. In fact, Chase suggests Typhus as the diagnosis right at the beginning of the differential diagnosis, which House suggests at the end of episode, and is correct. Also, he makes Taub suggest diagnoses under the pressure of playing the video game, thus being distracted and having to be extremely on point. As we know, House does project.

Wilson, confronts House about being ill and House says he wouldn't believe him if he told Wilson he were, jokingly. So is House really ill? Is he afraid of losing his capacity to practice medicine? Old age seems to be weighing heavily on his mind, grey hair, is what leads him to the eventual diagnosis. Very subtle.

We also have the clinic patient who is, to our amusement, singing while hopping on one leg. Diagnosis: he drank too much green beer (and has an allergy to the dye). Now this may be a stretch, so humour me, but he is allergic to green beer, green being the millitary colour and alcohol being what the POTW's father died from. Sometimes the connections aren't evident but they are usually threaded in.

Obviously I can't talk about everything that happened, but overall, it was an interesting episode, a good build up to the end, to what will happen to House. Now I look forward to some drama and to the unexpected.

Episode 17

We Need The Eggs 

So unofficially we've heard via Twitter (and on IMDb) that episode 17 of Season 8 is called We Need The Eggs. I looked up the title because I was curious as to what it alluded to. It appears to be a quote from Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977):

I thought of that old joke: This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, 'Doc, my brother's crazy, he thinks he's a chicken.' And the doctor says, 'Well why don't you turn him in?' and the guy says, 'I would, but I need the eggs.' Well, I guess that's pretty much now how I feel about relationships. They're totally irrational and crazy and absurd, but I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs.

I was sure I'd heard that quote in part somewhere before on an episode of House. Well, it turns out I had:

During Season 2 I was a huge fan of the Stacy-House relationship, so let's say I've watched Failure to Communicate (Season 2 Episode 10) more than once. The episode is actually one of my favourites. There is a fantastic scene earlier in the episode in which Stacy uses 'curry' as an analogy to describe her relationship with House, which is why the sentence finishes with 'curry' instead of 'eggs':

The question is: Why this title? Is it a reference to House's relationship with Stacy or relationships in general? The latter is more likely in my opinion. Relationships are complicated (a notion personified by House), and this emphasises the fact that we can never really understand other people's relationships; we are outsiders. Relationships don't often 'make sense' and are often addictive as Stacy says. In hindsight it's interesting that House chimes in with 'drugs' when Stacy is thinking of something addictive. Medicine always gets in the way of House and his relationships (I don't only mean Cuddy here), as despite what he says, medicine does come first.

So We Need The Eggs could focus on romantic relationships but also on familial ones. We may well see a psych patient as the subplot, which would refer to the Annie Hall reference. Again, relationships are complicated. It could be the case that we get an insight into how someone diagnosed with a mental illness communicates with a sibling or parent and how difficult it can be for both sides. This is pure speculation.

Note: According to IMDb Peter Blake and Sarah Hess are the writers but nothing has been released OFFICIALLY as of yet. It may well turn out that this isn't the title of the episode at all. However, I thought I would share my thoughts about what I believe is an interesting concept; a potential self-reference (to Failure to Communicate) as well as an intertextual one to Annie Hall. 

Season 8 Publicity Photoshoot

Source: @MsHousefan

Mr. Sandman Bring Me A Dream

I was listening to Mr. Sandman in the park when I started thinking about how funny it was that they used this song at the beginning of 'Family Practice'. And by funny I mean cleverly ironic. A lot of us thought it was a reference to the obvious, the fact that perhaps what was happening or what was going to happen would not be real, but a dream or a figment of the imagination of some sorts. I suppose in hindsight we weren't far off. 'Bombshells' is a few episodes later...

Let me go back to why I first thought it was clever to use this song. It's about Mr. Sandman bringing her a dream, "make him the cutest that I've ever seen". And then we have House. The anti-dream in terms of what you think you would want. In reality, despite being a miserable mysanthropic addict, he is an utterly fascinating and brilliant man. He is far from a dream though. So this lead me to think about 'Bombshells' and the fact that he appeared to Cuddy in a dream in order for her subconscious to access the fact that on some level she already knew that he would fall back on his old (candy) cane crutch Vicodin. So at least from this perspective it appears to be a parody reference to Mr. Sandman bringing her a dream man. In fact he came in an almost feverish nightmare, a hallucinatory style dream.

Anyway, I just thought I would write this down as I thought it was an interesting, and on the surface a very strange song choice.





EDIT:

As I don't think I'll be able to speak to Miguel any time soon, I'll stick to my theory for now...

7x08 "Small Sacrifices" - The Almighty Lie

I wrote this after the episode aired (22.11.11). I'm not exactly sure what possessed me to write something so long, but it was an incredibly interesting episode. So here it is:

One of the predominant themes throughout the episode which is aptly named ‘Small Sacrifices’ (for more reasons than one) is Religion. How it is perceived is contrasted by faith and atheism. Continuing the flow of last week’s “A Pox on Our House” the opening scene refers to a very prominent historic event. The score used creates the tension we’ve come to expect of House. The scenes are almost graphic and the anticipation of waiting for the stake to be driven into the man’s palm results in a sharp intake of breath. The difference from last week is that the scene takes place in the present and pays homage to the past. When the cross is raised, the silhouette of the cross and the man’s back is raised against the backdrop of the city, looking down upon it, as Jesus himself is said to have done. 

The hospital opening scene sees the contrast between the work and personal relationship between House and Cuddy. “What you got against chickens? One got choked last night thanks to you!” (And the chicken as a euphemism for sex metaphor begins…) House refuses to accept he was wrong for lying to his boss (creating a division between work Cuddy and girlfriend Cuddy). The constant back and forth is realistic, entertaining and true to both their characters. The play for power and having the last word keeps the relationship fiery. 

The patient’s circumstance (not the patient himself) attracts House’s attention so much so that we see him visit the patient straight away, which is very unusual. The 'House vs God' scenario begins... The crucifixion was not atonement but bargaining. This closely parallels the five stages of grief we know so well from [H]ouse. The patient bargained for his daughter’s life (which ironically sounds more like a deal with the devil). He has gone through denial (that his daughter only had two months to live), anger (that his wife left him), bargaining (to keep his daughter alive), depression (he is afraid of dying but must die to honour his deal), acceptance (to accept treatment [while being lied to]).  House’s atheism propels him to mock the POTW and he talks about ‘causal determinism’ and explains that “we are hardwired to need answers” . It is a battle between science (medicine and intrinsic self preservation) and Religion (unwavering faith). House believes Religion is the fall back answer rather than the rational one. Interestingly, Chase seems uncomfortable with what House is saying (as although he was/is Catholic he has renounced his faith a fair few times). 

The meeting between House and Wilson takes the format of back and forth lying and probing. Their personal relationship intertwines their business one (talking about cancer while talking about Wilson’s lie). This in fact counters House’s argument that Cuddy should accept to keep personal and business life completely separate.

Wilson, who is usually the moral compass in House, advises him to lie as it will pacify Cuddy’s feelings. House interprets the advice in his own Housian way, and embarks on an ‘I have to make Cuddy lie to get even’ escapade. 

The lab scene provides the opportunity for the audience to find out about Master’s history (her parents and their marriage) and the fact that Taub is anxious about his wife and her fidelity. Chase says the “chickens are coming home to roost” when Taub reveals his wife has a meeting at a hotel. 

Again there is a breach in House’s theory that private life can be kept separate from work. He asks for confidential patient files as “tat for tit”. She asks him to concentrate on “work thoughts” and when telling him she doesn’t like what he’s wearing she becomes suspicious that he is trying to make her lie. 

When Wilson’s office door is locked House also becomes suspicious. He admits to Wilson that he lied and forged Cuddy’s signature. Wilson (the usual moral compass) lies again and says he is busy because he is the Head of Oncology when he is in fact helping Sam. He reveals to propose at the wedding. House mocks Wilson about love and suggests “a Buddhist aquarium” as a perfect place to propose. The darkness of lying and betrayal throughout the episode is countered by mockery, irony and humour.  

Taub ironically has trust issues about his wife’s fidelity. The irony is amplified by the fact that she is possibly cheating with a man in a support group for “people with unfaithful spouses”.

House presents a “33 year old carpenter presenting with narcissism, delusions of grandeur, hallucinations”. However, he is not describing the patient, but “HIM with a capital OMG”. House continuously mocks the POTW about Religion. House suggests the neurological problem is to blame for his ‘delusions’ and suggests an MRI to find God (of course implying that there is no God). 

House’s admission of her forged signature to Cuddy only serves as an entry into the honesty/lie equilibrium. House brings up her DOB that he read in the HR file, believing she lied about it. However she lied to HR, not to him. He wants her to “embrace the value of lying”, which she will not.  

When the diagnosis turns to MS, House asks where the POTW’s friends are. He says all he asks is that they pray for him. To which House replies “always sacrificing, very inspirational”. House does not believe in self sacrifice. The irony is that one could very well argue that he himself suffers from narcissism and delusions of grandeur. The POTW claims that “faith is not a disease” and that medicine will not turn him into an atheist. House counters with “…but [faith] kills a lot of people”. 

The irony and mockery of House with the tailor in a Christ-like pose is overwhelmingly good. He stands over his ‘children’ (always refers to them as ‘kids’) as Jesus did and as the patient did (over the backdrop of the city in the opening scenes). 

Religion comes into play once again with the diagnosis of Marburg MS. He will die in a few days and stem cell (embryonic) experimental treatment is the only option. However the patient’s Religious beliefs will prevent him from accepting treatment. A criticism perhaps, of Religion preventing Science from evolving. The patient believes that accepting treatment is an insult to God.

Masters then wants to use the daughter to persuade the POTW to get treatment in an “honesty is not all bad” policy, which counters House’s beliefs. However he uses it. When the patient refuses the daughter says “If God could do this I hate God”. Religion is constantly the source of disagreement. 

At the wedding Chase’s womanising rampage counters Taub’s belief that his wife is betraying him emotionally by revealing intimate thoughts. When he asks her stop, she does not agree. The tables are very much turned. 

House uses humour constantly when dealing with Cuddy, as he is still slightly uncomfortable with allowing himself to love her. He tells her she looks “simply stunning”. However, she wants is an apology not flattery.  When House asks her “What would you wear?” referring to getting married, the dulcet tones of love in fact hide an ulterior motive.  When she says “I may not be young but I’ll be first time” House catches her in her lie as she was married before in 1987 for 6 days (which he uncovered when he became suspicious she knew too much about divorce law). His entrapment backfires. 

Wilson’s proposal to Sam also backfires. His claim to love her work and her sense of morality negates the fact that she insists she was telling the truth about the radiation levels on the five cases she is being audited on. She leaves him because he has not changed, or better, evolved. 

House once again lies to the patient to save his life. He says he did a PET scan on his daughter and tells him she still has Neuroblastomas and that the CT scan had missed the tiny tumours. “Looks like God broke your deal”. Is morality therefore a relative concept?

When he tells the patient the truth and that he is not being punished for breaking his deal with God; and that therefore there is no God, the POTW replies that God is truly merciful and does exist. “Punishment is proof of God and no punishment is proof of God, ingenious argument”. “Faith is not an argument”. This prompts House to re-evaluate his stance on his stubbornness to prove a point. Masters realises the patient would be dead if House had told her the truth. However she still believes in the absolute value of truth which helps counter House’s theories. 

The turning point in the ‘Huddy’ relationship takes place in Cuddy’s office. He truly believes that if everybody lies, trust is unfounded and fictional. However he has learned that trust is not an argument that can be won or lost. He must suspend cynicism and believe. He then takes a “leap of faith”. “I won’t lie to you again” he (more likely than not) lies to Cuddy. He admits to Wilson that “I lied” and took your advice. He knows he will lie again, but so does she. 

House sacrifices his rationality and reason to appease her. Cuddy sacrifices her moral ground that lying is not acceptable, as she understands that it is his small sacrifice which is of value, and not the fact that he promised never to lie to her again. It was in this lie, in fact, that a middle ground was found and a compromise made.